The Prestige

by Christopher Priest
The Prestige
book data
1,493 ratings, 3.75 average rating, 314 reviews (more data...)
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published
September 15th 2005 (first published 1995) by Tor Books

binding
Paperback, 368 pages

characters

setting
Portugal

literary awards
James Tait Black Memorial Prize, World Fantasy Award

isbn
0312858868    (isbn13: 9780312858865)

description
The Washington Post called this "a dizzying magic show of a novel, chock-a-block with all the props of Victorian sensation fiction: seances, mult...more




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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2,291)

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Martine
Read in December, 2007
Like many readers, I came to this book after seeing the excellent 2006 film based on it. Like many other readers, I ended up preferring the film to the book as the film is a lot more tightly woven and provides better motivations for the characters' actions.

The story, for those of you who don't know, centres on two Victorian magicians who strike up a feud and spend the next twenty years sabotaging each other's shows and trying to outperform each other, each coming up with a spectacula...more
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Ellen
08/24/08
Ellen rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2007
It actually took me quite a long time to read this one, and while I largely enjoyed it, I can't help wondering some things. My suspicion is that I was sometimes uninspired to keep reading because the pacing was a bit slower than the movie. Connected to that, I kept wondering over and over again what it would have been like to read the book without knowing the big twist at the end. There were clues, certainly, and while it wasn't spelled out during Borden's portion of the narrative, I wondered wh...more
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Audra
06/06/07
Audra rated it: 5 of 5 stars (review of isbn 0765356171)

Read in October, 2007
recommends it for: anyone who enjoys mysteries with a touch of magic, science fiction, and bit of soft horror too.
A suspenseful and gripping story, Christopher Priest demonstrates his storytelling skill in this compelling tale of two turn-of-the-century competing British stage magicians and their feud that trickles down through their descendants. A present day young man unexepctedly finds out that he is a descendant of one of the magicians, and the reader follows his journey of reading their old diaries, learning of their lives, secrets, the feud, and how it so directly affects him (the present day young ma...more
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Missorli2
04/07/08
Missorli2 rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: sci-fi
I really liked the movie, and when I found out there was a book, I decided to read it. So far it's ok, but way different from the movie (which doesn't surprise me). I'll update later as I read it.

It's taken me a while to read it because I leave it at work and read it on my breaks. It has been really good so far, and the basic plot is similar to the movie. I'm only about half way through, but it's very good.

After finishing it, I've decided the movie is better. The boo...more
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Russ
07/13/07
Russ rated it: 5 of 5 stars (review of isbn 0765356171)

Read in April, 2007
recommends it for: Anyone looking for something interesting
You know the kind of book that starts out very wordy and slow, and then *boom* you get a scene that makes you want to read the rest of it right now, just to find out what happens? This is that kind of book.

The setting is in present day, with descendants of two famous magicians trying to figure out what happened to their great-grandfathers. They do this by reading the journals/books of their forefathers. What they find out will really amaze you.

This book will keep you g...more
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Belinda
bookshelves: intrigue, mystery, spooky
Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in September, 2007
Really more of a 4.5, but the very, very end left me enough at a loss that I rounded down instead of up. This is one page-turner of a debut novel. I was reading it concurrently with Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and needless to say, this one went much more quickly.

The main thing I want to say about this novel is that, if you've seen the movie based on it, you do NOT know the story of this novel. I did enjoy the film, but it stands on its own apart from the book, in many mor...more
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Mary Catherine
09/26/07
Mary Catherine rated it: 4 of 5 stars

This is the book that last year's movie of the same name (with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) was based on. It features two rival magicians who fight for supremacy and who try to come up with the ultimate illusion.

Having seen the movie before I read the book, I think the movie is better solely because magic is a visual medium and it loses some power when it's just being described on the page. There are some pretty major plot differences between the book and the movie and I like t...more
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Immen
04/28/09
Immen added it

Read in April, 2009
My view of this book is deeply colored by the movie, which I watched two or three times and greatly enjoyed. The book has a different emphasis; there's this frame story which sets up, right from the start, a primary theme of twins and doppelgangers, which changes the game very much. (The movie, in my view, was more about the batshit things that driven people are driven to do, with homg twin shenanigans as a secondary theme.)

The frame story asks a question, which clearly isn't going t...more
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Rina
01/19/09
Rina rated it: 2 of 5 stars (review of isbn 3453522117)

Read in January, 2009
This is one of the rare cases in which I enjoyed the movie far more than the book.

Christopher Priest made an interesting approach by telling the story from four (or let's say five) different perspectives, but in the end this also is the biggest weakness of the book. It seems like the writing style doesn't change much although the story is narrated by a different character, and after all I didn't care about anybody in the book. The characters just didn't get me because they spent most...more
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Chad
04/26/09
Chad rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: 2009, fiction
Read in May, 2009
I began reading "The Prestige" not having seen the film version, but I had heard whisperings about the secret twist ending that apparently went over well with movie-going audiences. I didn't know the specifics really, just enough to start formulating a hypothesis to the story's mystery after the first few dozen (or so) pages. As the narration of the novel's first two narrators began to gel somewhat with my theory, I immediatley began to worry that in hearing what I'd heard, the book w...more
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Alex
07/01/09
Alex rated it: 2 of 5 stars

I remember the first time I read this hating it for the "Wooooo! TESLA! He can do anything!" bit, which I realize really wasn't the point. However, having just reread it it turns out that this is simply a book I don't care for. He does get points for the ways that he really works a bunch of interesting ideas, especially first person narrative (for me, but I just wrote out a list of the interesting ideas I saw in the book and it got sort of long). Maybe that's the problem with the b...more
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Greg
03/24/09
Greg rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: novel
Read in April, 2009
Let me first say that the books (as often happens) is different that the movie. The main idea is the basically the same, but most of the rivalry between the two magicians takes place in a different way that it does in the movie.

For me, this was an excellent book. Having said that, I also know that it's not for everyone. I would say that it's part magic theory, part character novel, and part science fiction. If you've seen the movie, you know the science fiction part and I would s...more
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Jake
06/24/09
Jake rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: science-fiction
Read in June, 2009
Excellent novel in its own right, and a must-read if you loved the movie. The book is essentially the same in all the ways that matter-- characters, setting, major plot points-- but it contains one or two differences that add depth and poignancy to the story. You learn more, for instance, about the relationship between the Borden twins, as well as Angiers' inward experience of using Tesla's device. In a number of ways the movie is superior to the book-- as in all great adaptions, the screenwr...more
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Sam
01/18/09
Sam rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2009
recommended to Sam by: myself
recommends it for: people who liked the movie and enjoy a good brain-bender
This book is one of the rare examples in which the film adaptation is superior to the novel on which it is based.

The Prestige, in both its forms of entertainment, is an interesting and well-thought out story. It follows two magicians on their respective rises to fame and their intense feud with each other. Nearing the conclusion of each, one of Rupert/Robert Angier's tricks is interfered with in some way and influences the end of the story in a bizarre twist. While this may be t...more
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TonyAlmeida
Read in January, 2009
In Portugal the book's title changed as magic. Well, not exactly. It was marketing instead. Initially it was sold under the title "O Prestígio" (The Prestige), just like the original edition of the book. Later, its title was changed to "O Terceiro Passo" (The third step), as in the portuguese title for the movie based on this book.

Now, about the book. I'm a magic lover and the central theme of this book caught my attention. I enjoyed very much the book at the beg...more
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Whitelady3
bookshelves: not-own, portuguese
Read in January, 2009
I have to say that magic never really got me though I like to see illusionists doing their tricks now and then. This book, as well as the recent movie with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale (which I haven't seen yet), never had my curiosity or interest. I even think I would never read this book if I hadn't got it through BookMooch or if there wasn't a show on Portuguese television about magic.

I enjoyed the reading but still this story might work better as a movie, since it has so many ...more
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Janolyn
04/06/09
Janolyn rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: fiction
Read in March, 2009
This is one of the few books that I have to admit that I thought the movie was better. I enjoyed reading the book but the extra layer of current day characters researching the lives of the magicians seemed bulky and unneccessary. Maybe it was because I had seen the movie but the primary characters were fascinating enough. Interesting historical setting with both a 'normal' twist and a sci-fi twist. Every sci-fi book/movie has 'holes' in its logic but in this case I thought the movie did a better...more
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CD
03/22/09
CD rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in April, 2009
An eyeblink away from 5 stars and joining the list of my 'all-time-favorites'.

My belief is that some books are just too good a story to be easily told and even a few minor flaws leaves the reader needing a bit more than was delivered. The Prestige is very close to this group.

Combing many of my favorite leisure time reading elements - Gothic/Victorian/Edwardian backdrops, English setting and storyline, the hint of science gone astray, and a few historic figures wrapped in...more
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Isil
12/27/08
Isil rated it: 4 of 5 stars (review of isbn 2070340775)

bookshelves: angleterre, science-fiction, xxe
Read in December, 2008
La narration suit les points de vue successifs de différents personnages. On commence à l’époque contemporaine avec Andrew Westley, qui découvre le passé de sa famille biologique. C’est le récit de Kate Angier qui commence à mettre en place l’intrigue mais c’est la suite, avec les journaux intimes d’Alfred Borden puis de Rupert Angier qui deviennent absolument passionnants. Ils se répondent parfaitement puisqu’il s’agit de deux points de vue différents d’une même hi...more
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Jess
02/26/09
Jess rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in July, 2006
I should really have this on my "reading" shelf, because there is almost never a time I'm not reading or re-reading this book.

This is absolutely one of my desert island books, and quite possibly one of my favorites. Combine magic, intrigue, diaries, wives & mistresses, twins & doubles, and then span decades, and you'll have this book. Bought it for a cruise & did not put it down till I was done--and then read it again before I got back off. I've read it more times than I ca...more
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